Private Embroidery

[Thelma Goth]

The door to Eliphas' private quarters aboard the Bright Knight suddenly opened. In the doorway stood Thelma Goth, red-faced and flustered. Just under five feet tall, with very pale skin and long dark hair that covered her face (although that had less to do with her hair and more to do with her slouching posture), she looked like a little ghost. Upon seeing Eli, she attempted to turn and run, only to be stopped by Starlin, who stood in her way.

"Whoa, hey, where you going?" he asked, turning her around. "Thelma, this is Eli. Eli, this is Thelma."

Looking at everything other than Eli, Thelma mumbled, "Hi."

With a little nudging from Starlin, she was prodded into the room. But even then Thelma just stood and stared, too painfully shy to speak. After a few seconds, just before Starlin could intervene for the sake of moving things along, she managed to squeak out a single querying word:

"Embroidery?"

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"I'm not sleeping!" Eliphas said as he sat bolt upright on his bed and stared at the suddenly opened door. The girl stood there was not someone he was familiar with, and for a moment his expression crumpled in confusion. She seemed just as taken aback, even turning to flee. He only noticed Starlin when he fumbled her attempts.​

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"Master..?" Introductions were rather awkwardly given, and Eli stared at Thelma. "Uh... Hi, Thelma. Nice to meet you." He shot a brief glare to Starlin, then shuffled toward the edge of the bed so that his legs hung over the side. Silence, awkward silence... Then one word. Embroidery.​

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"Oh!" Now he remembered. Thelma... She was the one Starlin had said could sew. "Yeah, yeah, embroidery." He looked back to Starlin. "Can we use the lounge?" It seemed to make more sense than making this already uncomfortable looking girl sit in his bedroom. Eliphas summoned his hoverchair with a focused gesture, and then slipped into it.​

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Thelma Goth ​

 

[Thelma Goth]

“Yeah!” Starlin’s response was bright and chirpy as an astromech droid as he stepped out of the way of the door, giving Eli plenty of room. “Go right ahead.”

“I, um.” Thelma cleared her throat. “I sew, but I’ve never tried… embroidery before.”

“Shouldn’t be that hard, right? You already know the basics.”

Thelma looked more than a little bit doubtful, but didn’t say anything.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"Thanks, Star', you're the best."​

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Before he could be wrung by the neck for using Miri Nimdok 's proposed nickname, Eliphas zipped past Starlin in his hoverchair grinning all the while. He led Thelma through to the lounge, and then lumbered his way out of the hoverchair to sit in one of the plusher seats. He put his feet up on the coffee table, elevating them did wonders, and then smiled.​

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"Embroidery's not too difficult. If you sew, you know basic stitches right? For the outlines at least, that's enough. It's when you start filling that things get a little more fancy, but honestly even that can be simplified at first."​

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Realizing that he'd forgotten his cloak, he groaned softly to himself then turned his head some to the doorway. "Uh, Master..?" Boy, was he regretting his Star comment right about now, "Is there any way you could grab my cloak from my bed..? I'll owe you a pizza..."​

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Thelma Goth ​

 

[Thelma Goth]

"You're right, I am the best," Starlin agreed. "But if you keep that up, I'm gonna start calling you Crybaby." And the nicknames would only get worse from there.

Thelma followed Eli into the lounge, keeping her head down. "Okay," she mumbled, though she still sounded uncertain. She primarily used a sewing machine, only hand-sewing when she was mending small tears in a garment.

Starlin had gone to the kitchen to grab a snack when he heard Eli's request. "Dude, you have telekinetic powers," he pointed out. "Get it yourself."

If Eli couldn't manage such a feat, the promise of pizza (and pity) would eventually coax Starlin into fetching the cloak.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"Psht, I'm not a crybaby" he stated with a glower, how dare Starlin insinuate such, and in the company of a g0rl! "But you are a Star" expression shifted into a grin then, "Shine bright, Master..."​

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Thelma didn't seem all that sure or convinced, in fact she seemed outright out of place and beyond shy. He patted the seat beside him. "How long have you been with the Jedi, Thelma?" he asked, trying to break the ice a little. Starlin's response left him rolling his eyes though. "C'mon, you know I suck at telekinesis..." It had been a point of strife in the past, after all. Though he had been practicing more lately, on account of his mobility issues.​

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Still, no time like the present to get a little more work in. He turned slightly, shifting back toward the door to his bunk, and raised a hand. His face scrunched up in focus, the way it only really seemed to do when he was trying to do something telekinetically, and the door opened. Step one complete! But getting the cloak was another matter all together, because quite frankly he couldn't see it.​

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With a huff he gave up, and then looked back to Thelma. "My mother taught me how to embroider when I was younger" he explained, "Our family has a tradition where... well, you'll see." Maybe. If Starlin did fetch the cloak. In the meantime, he opened a drawer in the coffee table and pulled free a small pouch which held his sewing supplies. He liked sewing out here in the lounge, it made a change from slumming it in bed all the time.​

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"You know, if you want we can get a snack or something first? See if Starlin here has any good music to listen to? You seem a little.. nervous. I won't bite, honest."​

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Thelma Goth ​

 

[Thelma Goth]

Starlin glared back. “More like burning bright. With rage.”

Thelma was reluctant to sit beside Eli on the couch. Eventually she gave in, but left a noticeable blank spot between them. “Um, a few months,” she replied. “With the NJO, at least.”

“You need to get better at it,” Starlin said from the kitchen. “And you won’t get better unless you practice.”

But Eli’s lame attempt at telekinesis failed to accomplish his goal. Before Starlin could move to get the cloak, Thelma had seized it herself, folding it up and floating it into the lounge, where she deposited it neatly in Eli’s lap.

She nodded vigorously at the suggestion of a snack. “Yeah. I need food,” she mumbled.

“Well, I’m making a sammich,” Starlin said. “If y’all want one, you’re gonna have to tell me how you like ‘em.”

"I won't bite, honest."

Thelma side-eyed him nervously before asking Starlin what kind of meat he had. “Ham, turkey, and baloney,” was the reply from the kitchen. Back and forth they went while Starlin slapped together a sandwich. “What about you, Eli?”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

A few months with the Order. "It can be a bit of a culture shock, huh?" He remembered his first few weeks here on Coruscant, dizzying... Definitely dizzying. "Were you with the Jedi before you joined the Alliance? Or were you like me, a late starter?"​

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When Starlin pushed him to try for himself he tried, but evidently he didn't get very far. Much to his surprise though Thelma brought it through the ship for him, until it settled in his lap. He blushed in embarrassment, but inclined his head all the same. "Thanks" he mumbled, as he unfolded it and allowed some of the gilded thread to show.​

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"This is the tradition of House Dune," he explained to her while Starlin was listing off lunch meats, "We add embroidery to our traditional cloaks whenever we reach a milestone or achieve something." He offered it out for her to look at, and flicked his gaze over to Starlin. "Pudding..?" he requested, unsure if he'd be permitted to live solely off the good stuff for much longer.​

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"See, so when I joined the Tetan Academy of Hyperspace Navigation, my mother added this one," his hand drifted toward the starship, which was dotted around with constellations from nearby systems, "And then when I became a Jedi I added this one..." It was the symbol of the NJO, and beside it was a little lightsaber hilt which had no doubt come after.​

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"What sort of things do you make when you sew?" he asked her, since she'd said she hadn't ever embroidered before. Maybe she was more into creating practical things as opposed to decorative addons.​

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Thelma Goth ​

 

[Thelma Goth]

“I had a Jedi Master before,” Thelma said softly. “But he died.” Or so she thought. She didn’t actually know what had become of Maxim Koschei.

She divided her attention between Starlin and Eli, but it was clear she was really gunning for that sandwich. Once the plate was set in front of her she devoured it like she was starving.

“Not unless it’s protein pudding, kid,” Starlin replied. “Man cannot live on pudding alone. If you want, you could try to eat just the parts of the sammich. Might go down easier. But you’re supposed to be working your way to solid food by now.”

Apart from serving as the provider of food, Starlin seemed content to stay out of their business, disappearing from the lounge after everyone had their snacks. Thelma wiped her hands with a napkin before touching the embroidery.

“I take cloth that was donated or thrown away, cut it up, and make new clothes from it. Old clothes, bedsheets, tablecloths, curtains, upholstery from furniture—I’ve used it all.” She seemed a bit anxious to see how he would react, looking at him from across the table.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"Oh..."​

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Eli was no stranger to loss, but thankfully he hadn't lost a Master or a parent... Well, that latter part was up to debate, he still hadn't heard from his family and was nervous about even bringing it up with Starlin. He was holding himself together by the very threads of his sanity, and he felt certain they'd snap if he tried to delve into too much too fast. ​

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"I'm sorry" he said, "Do you have a new Master here?" A new Master... Eliphas cringed at his own choice of words, and turned bright pink. "I mean..." Nope, no way to salvage that.​

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Thankfully Starlin provided a nice segway from that conversation. "Well... Do we have protein pudding?" Probably not. Okay, okay, no chocolate pudding that was fine... He could handle that, right? A very slight amount of panic arose within him, but he squished and swallowed it down then nodded feebly. "Okay, I'll try the independent parts..." Then he bit the inside of his lip. "Then can I have pudding..?"​

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When Thelma began to explain what she did with fabric, Eli's eyes began to widen with delight. "That is so cool!" He seemed excitable, and when the plate of random lunch meat and salad toppings was set before him he even managed to nibble at a little of it. His stomach wasn't happy with him, though. Still... Starlin was right. He couldn't survive on pudding alone.​

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"I don't really know how to make things like that, just how to embroider and darner. I'll keep an eye out for old fabric, if you'd like? I love that you reuse!"​

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Thelma Goth ​

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma shifted uncomfortably in her seat, taking another massive bite of sandwich so she’d have an excuse for not talking. Eventually Eli asked if she had a new master.

“Yeah. Master Kahlil Noble is my teacher now.”

They did not have protein pudding, but Eli was more willing to try solids. “Attaboy, Eli,” Starlin said before handing over the plate of sandwich parts. “Maybe later. Eat your meats and veggies first.”

Thelma was taken aback by the boy’s easygoing smile and warm, genuine enthusiasm. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away from him as though he were suddenly too lovely to look at. “Thanks,” she mumbled. “That would be… good.”

When she could bear to glance his way again, she found him nibbling delicately on scraps of lunch meat. It made him seem much more ordinary, even comical. She certainly found the sight of him easier to stomach than Eli evidently found his food.

“So, um… What do you want to make?” she asked.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Master Noble?​

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Eli tilted his head to one side. "Any relation to Master Valery Noble?" he inquired. He wasn't familiar with Kahlil after all. Still the Noble name was one he knew, Valery was a sweetheart and she'd always taken great care of Iris. That kept her firmly in Eliphas' good books, not that he really had a bad book or would ever think to place a Jedi there.​

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Starlin was reluctant to let him have pudding any time soon, so he pouted but ultimately relented with a nod of his head. What would he do without his precious chocolatey sustenance?​

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With his Master wandering off to give them space, Eli picked at the plate of random bits and pieces and took note of the way in which Thelma coyly looked away from him. "I'm sorry" he said, "If I'm being too much..." Ever since his return to life he'd been a bit... much. Higher energy and chatty to be sure. She seemed quite the opposite, and he didn't want to overwhelm her. Still she liked the idea of him finding second hand fabric for her, so that was a start.​

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When she asked what they should make he hummed in thought. "Well, I could show you some of the basic embroidery stitches if you'd like? Or... I can see if I have any old shirts that don't fit me anymore, and we can make something from them?" That wasn't embroidery, but it was more in her ballpark wasn't it?​

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Thelma Goth ​

 

[Thelma Goth]

“They’re husband and wife. Or they were… Master Kahlil was dead there for a little while, but then he came back. I don’t really understand it…” She scratched her head and shrugged.

Drawing attention to how she had reacted only made Thelma more flustered. “F-Fine. It’s fine,” she stammered, her voice a little hoarse and strained. Her leg had begun to jiggle with nervous energy.

“Embroidery—” She cleared her throat. “I came here for embroidery, so let’s do that. Show me, please.” A beat passed. “Shirts later.”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

"Master Noble got married?" His eyes widened slightly, before he nodded his head as though he was impressed, "I missed so much..." Weddings, invasions, Knighthoods... It was almost dizzying in truth. "Good for them. I'm uh, I'm glad he'd not, well, dead still..."​

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Eliphas went and made the poor girl all the more flustered, and he felt a pang of guilt. "Okay, I believe you" he said when she claimed to be alright. He put the matter to bed, not wanting to keep the focus on it, and instead shifted in his seat to pull free a small pouch of embroidery floss from amidst the drawer. "Pick a colour, cut it to length, and then break off two strands of the floss. It comes as six strands, but we don't need anything that thick" he explained.​

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For his part, Eliphas reached for a pleasant burnt orange, something akin to the tigers eye crystal in his saber, and followed his own instructions until he was left with a length of two-strand thread. He rather effortlessly threaded it onto an embroidery needle, whose eye was naturally larger than that meant for regular sewing on account of how thick embroidery floss could be, and then realized he hadn't brought out any fabric other than his cloak.​

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"Erm... I'll be right back," he said, pulling himself up into his hover chair with a tiny huff he tried to hide, "I'll find us something to work on..."​

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Thelma Goth ​

 

[Thelma Goth]

Relieved that he had dropped the subject, Thelma reached into the pouch, picking out a pale pink floss. Her hand accidentally brushed his, and she instinctively recoiled, her fingers flexing. Even in that slight touch she could feel how much warmer he was compared to her. She licked her lips.

“Uh, okay,” she mumbled, settling back on the couch to allow him to get past her. Truth be told, she was slightly relieved when he was gone.

Why was he having this effect on her? She had just eaten. She shouldn’t have felt hungry. Out of sheer anxiety, she scarfed down the remnants of food that had been on his plate, hoping it would tide her over.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

Taking note of how cold her hands were when they'd accidentally touched, Eliphas pulled the spare blanket from on top of his bed and set it in his lap, before finding some of those old shirts he had previously mentioned. He'd lost a lot of weight, and they made him look as though he was drowning when he tried to wear them. It was a depressing thing to see, so repurposing them would do him some good.​

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Bringing himself back into the main room via the hoverchair, he gently draped the blanket over her lap provided she didn't stop him, then returned himself to the seat across from her. The last thing he needed was to keep making her uncomfortable, and he hoped that little extra distance would help.​

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He reached for something on his plate only to find it empty. Had he managed to eat it all? Without his stomach churning? Well that was quite the change! "Hey, Master" he said, voice raising slightly, "Your deconstructed sandwich idea seems to work!" If anything he was still feeling a little peckish. One pudding cup wouldn't hurt, right? He'd finished what was on his plate after all...​

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Lifting a hand, he focused on the refrigerator door and tugged it open. Soon one of the pudding cups inside was levitating toward them, and Eli looked thoroughly victorious. He did his best to close the door as quietly as he could.​

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Then he remembered the shirts. "Oh, so... Here," he picked one of them up, and using the small set of scissors he kept on hand made a small incision. Then he tore the shirt two, until they had a front and back panel, and offered her one half. "You're supposed to use an embroidery hoop but... I find it gets in the way." Eliphas pulled a face. "I do have one if you need it to keep the tension on the fabric though..."​

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Thelma Goth ​

 

[Thelma Goth]

When Eli returned, the barely-satiated Thelma was startled to find herself wrapped in a blanket. “Uh,” was all she could think to say, so surprised was she by the gesture. He must’ve thought she was cold.

Her gaze flicked toward the empty plate. She hadn’t even considered how he might react to her eating his food. But he seemed willing to cover for her. Why?...

Watching him levitate pudding cups from the fridge clued her in. By eating the solid food he was supposed to consume, she’d inadvertently done him a… solid.

He tore up one of his nice shirts to use the fabric, and in the process moved across from her rather than next to her. She swung her legs, feeling a little lonely, but grateful that he wasn’t such a temptation anymore. “I’ll take a hoop,” she said.

Lief​

 

[Lief]

She opted for a hoop, so Eliphas dug through the coffee table drawer and unearthed one from near the bottom.​

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"I'll show you how, then you can do it" he said, as he loosened up the closure on the hoop and separated it into its two pieces. "Position the fabric where you want to work on the embroidery, then place one hoop under and the other over." He did precisely that, until the fabric was sandwiched between the hoop.​

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"Then you tighten the closure up here, and pull the fabric taut if it's slack."​

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By the time he was done he had almost a drum-like surface caught between the hoop. It kept the fabric in place, and everything even to work upon.​

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Of course, he'd already stated that he didn't use hoops personally so he soon removed his piece of fabric and handed the device over to her. He also pulled out a small container of embroidery needles, and placed them on the table. They had varying sizes, he'd found it was down to personal preference for the most part.​

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And the fabric, of course.​

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Thelma Goth​

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma watched in wide-eyed fascination as Eliphas went over the process. She was reminded of the trio of elder vampiresses in the Citadel at whose knees Thelma had learned all that she knew about sewing. She had seen them embroider with ancient-looking hoops carved from wood or bone, but they never had a chance to teach her before… well.

Eli dismantled all that he had done and handed her the empty hoop. She imitated him, taking the steps one at a time, but managed to get her piece of fabric taut.

While she did that, Eliphas whipped out the embroidery needles. She stared at them for a little while. “The size doesn’t matter much, does it?” she asked, fingers inching toward the smallest needle. Then she timidly remarked, “I didn’t know there were guys who were into sewing.”

Lief​

 

[Lief]

He watched as she took the hoop and set up her fabric between it. Nice and taut, he nodded in appreciation before plucking out one of the medium sized needles. "It doesn't matter much in general, usually it depends on the fabric as well as how dainty you're looking to make the finished product."​

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She was reaching for one of the smaller ones, and he couldn't help but smile. "I prefer smaller needles too" he confessed, "But they can be a pain to thread."​

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Eliphas proceeded to split the floss into two strand lengths and threaded it through the eye of the needle. Her question made him chuckle a little.​

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"There were a great many non-traditional things expected of me back home" he explained, with a tiny shrug, "In hopes that I'd make an agreeable husband one day." His mother did not want him to be incompetent, to rely on his wife for more 'feminine' tasks. "Besides, I like having something to keep my hands busy with."​

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Thelma Goth ​